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Planet Designation: Agrestic Status: Terrestrial, Q-class. Non-sentient life: Extensive agricultural flora and livestock. Natural habitats have been entirely eliminated Semi-Sentient Life: None. Sentient Life: Population 18 billion. Variety of races due to history of heavy immigration from neighboring universes. Dominant race Kanil, although representatives claim no species-based discrimination exists on planet. Water: 80% of the planet's surface. Climate: Varied. Current location is warm and moderately humid, average temperature 60 degrees Farenheit. Regular rain seasons. Landscape: Mountains, plains and oceans. No deserts. All terrain has been terraformed for maximum productivity. Air: Type I (breathable) Sky: Red. Warnings: Daligig not permitted within Agrestican territory. Mission: Shore leave and refueling.

As Stacy's shuttles bring the crew down, they're treated to the sights of massive mountains to dwarf even the mightiest Earth mountain range and golden, green and purple grain fields that take up more space than some entire civilizations have managed to colonize. The shuttles finally settle at the primary port city, Rura, which is ideally situated near and equidistant to a sprawling ocean, the base of a mountain range and a swath of farmland.

The people of Agrestic, including humans, Helians, Kanil, and plenty of other races, are for the most part hard at work and rushing from place to place. Very few pay much attention to Stacy's shuttles, as travelers stopping at this city and incredibly commonplace. Those that aren't working are relaxing, unencumbered by technological gadgets - while the technology here is very advanced, it seems primarily used to aid workers in their duties, and not for leisure. Fresh produce brought into the market is scanned by tiny mechanical beetles that inspect each piece for defects, but the children are more likely to be playing with sticks and rocks than anything else.

The crew exits the shuttles to find themselves at a large air-port like building, which opens up to a farmer's market and a strip of restaurants. As they exit the shuttles, some of the human port workers apologize for any inconvenience.

"We're sorry you couldn't bring the whole ship down, but the Truce specifically forbids Daligig to enter our airspace. You're lucky we managed to get clearance for shuttles of Daligig make to come in!" they say, before rushing off to help the next arrivals.

To return to the ship, a crew member may enter a shuttle and the autopilot will zip them back up to Stacy's underbelly. The crew may make as many trips back and forth as they like.

[OOC: This post itself will be for interactions with NPCs. Please do not set up subthreads in this post unless you are an NPCer. If you would like to create a new location on Agrestic, or do an open/closed log on the shore leave, please set up your own log. This will make it easier for our NPCers to know where they're needed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ranulf couldn't help but smile a bit at Basil's reaction to his description of the slop. It was always nice to have a sympathetic ear to talk to, and here was someone who clearly appreciated the value of good food. Yes, they understood each other.

"Yeah, that's the one," he answered. "I heard that this world doesn't allow Daligig... I've got to say, I'm glad you still let the rest of us stop off here. It's nice to get out for awhile... heh, and 'nice' is an understatement." He leaned forward a bit, curiosity clearly evident in his expression. "So can I ask how they managed to get themselves banned like that? It seems like it'd be a pretty big deal to be kept off of an entire planet."

The tip of Basil's tail twitches, not in irritation at Ranulf but at the ether, as if it holds all the Daligig he is annoyed with.

"We in the GIA have come to chafe under the way the Daligig treat their allies. And at their complete lack of work ethic. They're always taking the easy way out of doing anything, whether that's sending us to die for them or genetically engineering themselves."

Ranulf hmmm-ed softly. "So they treat everyone like that?" He sat back again, looking thoughtful. "You know, I haven't been on that ship for very long--not awake, anyway--and I haven't actually met any Daligig yet. But... well, I haven't heard anything good." Or seen anything good, for that matter; he remembered Sakura and Barbara's projection in the Sensoriums all too clearly. "I definitely get the impression that we're merely their pawns in this war. It's not just us then, huh?"

His eyebrows furrowed slightly in puzzlement then, his tail twitching as if in mimicry of Basil's. "...What's 'genetically engineering' mean?"

"What have you heard?" Basil licks his arm with his scratchy tongue. "And no, its not just you. To the Daligig, everyone is merely a pawn."

Basil's tail lashes a bit more. "It means to go into the very essence of a biological creature and tamper. It's a practice we outlaw here."

"Not much in the way of specifics, to be honest," Ranulf admitted, "but no one I've talked to who's been on-board for awhile seems willing to trust them any further than they could throw them, and well... it feels like there's a lot of suspicion directed at them." He frowned. "If the rest of the crew's anything like me, I imagine they're wondering if... if the Daligig are just feeding us lies to get us to do their dirty work." It wasn't something Ranulf liked to even consider--he wanted badly to believe that Tellius, that everyone's homes, could be saved. But ignoring the possibility that they were being misled wouldn't make it any less possible.

"Tamper..." He wasn't sure he understood. "So they... change what they are? Why would they want to do something like that?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. That's what they did to us, after all. We Agresticans." Basil keeps licking. "They like to give themselves unnatural advantages because they can. It's cheating."

"They did?" Ranulf looked up at Basil intently. That bit of information was... less than reassuring, to put it lightly. To have it confirmed by an outside source that he had every reason to be suspicious... no, not reassuring at all. Quite concerning, rather. Slumping slightly, he ran a hand through his hair with a loud sigh. "Ugh, well that's just great. Stuck on a ship with these guys..."

Of course, the important question now was what to do about it. "So how'd you Agresticans get them to agree to leave you alone?" Ranulf asked after a moment's consideration, leaning forward once again in interest. He managed a hint of a sly grin. "Any tips?"

Basil twitches his whiskers. "It wasn't easy. We had to threaten to cease dealing with them or with the GIA, which would be a massive loss not only to our economy but also to the economies of all the nations we trade with. And to the Daligig. They relented only because they saw the cost of losing us to be too high."

He puffs up his ruff a bit. "Do you have anything that they need? They seem capable of negotiating if you coerce them, but not for anything less."

"Anything that they need... hmm." Ranulf scratched his cheek as he considered. "Well, manpower. We've got plenty of that, and it seems to be what they want us around for. It's kind of a tricky thing to withhold though, you know?"

He furrowed his brows. "See, from what I can tell, they're the ones in control of the ship. So if they decide to take us into battle against those Ohm, well, of course we're going to fight. For our own lives much more than for their sake, but the outcome's the same, so our motivations probably don't make that much difference to them. They still get us fighting their enemies for them."

"You could try to go on military strike, tell you them won't fight, but I imagine that'd backfire horribly." Basil gives a disgruntled mew. He hates to see a fellow cat in such a nasty situation. He grab a pen and a bookmark from a nearby table. "I could write down a coordinate for an ally planet that may help."

Ranulf nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure refusing to fight would just make us easy prey for whatever they send us up against. Even if we don't want to go along with the Daligig, we don't exactly want to lie down and die, either." He gave Basil a wry grin. "Agrestic's got the right idea, but I guess it might not carry over to the ship too well. Unfortunately."

He brightened visibly at Basil's offer, ears perking up in interest. "Really? Hey, thanks a lot--you can never have too many allies!"

Basil writes down a few coordinates for Ranulf and passes the bookmark over, then excuses himself. "I must tend to my restaurant. Good hunting to you."